1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to evaluation and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in electrical mapping of the heart for use in evaluation of cardiac arrhythmias and ablative therapy thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods are known for noninvasive mapping of electrical potentials in the heart based on body surface electrocardiographic (ECG) techniques. These methods combine 3-dimensional imaging with the ECG data in order to generate 3-dimensional maps of the electrical potentials on the epicardial surface, and on the endocardial surface, as well.
The document Modre et al., Atrial Noninvasive Activation Mapping of Paced Rhythm Data, J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiology 14:712-719 (July 2003), describes a surface heart model activation time (AT) imaging approach, based on magnetic resonance imagine (MRI) and ECG mapping data. Both endocardial and epicardial surfaces might be mapped in this way. The AT pattern was compared to a CARTO™ map of atrial potentials. External anatomic markers were used to couple the CARTO data to the MRI coordinate system, by moving the catheter tip to marker locations at the body surface after internal mapping. It is proposed that AT imaging within the atria may be useful for noninvasive imaging of atrial activity in patients with focal arrhythmias.